Ulster DA hands off shooting case to avoid appearance of conflict

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Posted Apr. 28, 2014 at 5:33 PM
Updated Apr 28, 2014 at 5:44 PM

Posted Apr. 28, 2014 at 5:33 PM
Updated Apr 28, 2014 at 5:44 PM

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KINGSTON -- Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said Monday that he's taken himself and his office off the case of a man shot who was shot by an Ulster County sheriff's deputy because Carnright and his family have had personal dealings with the officer involved.

On the night of April 15, Brandon Rifenburg, 20, was shot twice in the chest in West Hurley after leading police agencies on a chase in a stolen vehicle, Carnright says.

Rifenburg, of High Falls, was treated at the scene, taken to the Broadway Campus of HealthAlliance hospital in Kingston, then taken Albany Medical Center in critical condition and underwent surgery.

During Rifenburg's 10-day stay in the hospital, Carnright refused to release Rifenburg's name, a move that he faced increasing media scrutiny on. He's also refused to name the officer involved in the shooting.

Carnright said that he asked Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum to not file charges against Rifenburg until he was released from the hospital because the office would have been obliged to post around-the-clock security while he was there, "an expense which I feel was not warranted," Carnright said.

Carnright said that he and Van Blarcum determined that Rifenburg was "neither an apparent flight risk nor a danger to the community." Carnright has not explained why the officer shot Rifenburg while taking him into custody.

On April 25, Rifenburg was released from the hospital and charged with six felonies, including grand larceny in the fourth degree and two counts of criminal mischief in the third degree.

Explaining why he withheld Rifenburg's name, Carnright said it's his "custom" to not release the name of those being investigated by the grand jury unless they've been charged with a crime.

Carnright says because the sheriff's deputy who was involved in the shooting has had personal business dealings with Carnright and his family, it could raise the appearance of impropriety. He filed an application with Ulster County Judge Donald Williams to appoint a special prosecutor, who assigned the Orange County District Attorney's Office to the case.

Rifenburg's attorney, John Ventosa, said at this point he had no comment on the case but that Rifenburg has been released on bail and that they're investigating the case.